A Highschool Drama
by ScarletInk314
Summary: Sakura Haruno is more than the average Konoha High student. With BFFs Ino, Hinata, Tenten and Temari, what more could she want? Just one thing: to rid the world of stuck-up Sasuke Uchiha, along with his friends Shikamaru, Naruto and Neji. ON HIATUS.
1. A Fiery Beginning

**Hi, this is ScarletInk314,**

**This is my first fanfic, and i would appreciate it if any readers would give a review. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but please don't flame me if you didn't like it...**

**Oh, and by the way, i don't own any Naruto characters. I am just trying to entertain in a non-profit way.**

**Enjoy!**

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Soft rays of sunlight hit the floor of a cream-carpeted floor through the newly-cleaned window. Two little wild birds sat outside on a slender, fragile tree branch, twittering away in happy oblivion to the sharp coldness of early morning.

It was a beautiful, early morning…until the soft rise and fall of a chest inside the house came to a shuddering stop.

It swelled as its owner sucked in a deep breath.

And collapsed as a shriek that could be heard several streets away woke up everybody else in the building.

Sakura Haruno sat up abruptly, from her nightmare, staring around frantically with bloodshot eyes. She relaxed as she realized there was no one in her room, then stiffened again as footsteps stormed down the corridor and pretty much broke down her door.

"Will you shut up for god's sake? It's only…" Ino Yamanaka halted in her brief tirade as she took in the sight of her friend, and slapped her hand over her mouth to stifle giggles.

"Oh my gosh…Forehead, you look like...like…"

"Yes?" Sakura's voice was made of steel. Ino shrank back slightly.

"Uhh, never mind…" She trailed off, and then burst out again, "But…hahahahaha, man, you have no idea how much I wish I'd had a camera with me when I came in!"

And no wonder, Sakura thought absently in the back of her mind. With sleep-deprived eyes and a bubble-gum pink haystack on her head, a photo would make the ultimate blackmail object. Maybe she would threaten to send it to Sasuke or something, so he could snigger at it with his gang of minion friends and pin it up on the school notice board for the rest of the student body to indulge in.

"Look, I'm sorry for waking you up at this time in the morning—" Sakura glanced at her alarm clock for a moment without really registering what it showed, "but you'd better go back to sleep unless you want to look like a—" She stopped, and looked back at the clock. What she saw set her mood on fire.

"HOLY CRAP! WE'RE LATE! Come on, no time for breakfast Ino, we've got ten freaking minutes to get to class!" Tugging on a pair of black jeans, a purple t-shirt and old sneakers, Sakura grabbed her bag and an apple and literally dragged her friend onto the streets, not even pausing to let her catch breath before dashing at a mad pace toward the Konoha High, visible as a small structure from where they were standing.

Ten minutes later

"Sakura…Forehead, stop…stop, we're here!" Ino gasped as she struggled for breath. Sakura looked down at the girl clinging to her wrist, and said with a slight frown,

"Ino, you really don't exercise that much, do you? Sometimes I'm really surprised at how you manage to stay skinny. Besides, we've got to get inside; our destination is in a classroom, not the front gates, so unless you want for both of us to start school late you'd better hurry up!" Sakura was already several strides ahead; Ino had to muster up all of her last resources of strength to catch up.

Inside the classroom

"Oh man…we came here for NOTHING?" Collapsing into a random chair, Sakura fought the urge to regain her energy and find Kakashi sensei so she could send him flying all the way to the moon and back. She should have remembered that on first periods with Kakashi sensei there would be no need to hurry to school; he was generally more of a late person than most of the class.

Sure enough, though, half an hour after they had arrived he waltzed in and promptly opened his mouth to make up one of his pathetic excuses. However, before he could utter one syllable, the majority of the class roared at him about being a sad, sad liar.

He simply shrugged.

"Whatever…free period," he muttered, then made himself comfortable in a corner and pulled out his little orange hentai novel.

Sakura sighed. It was always free period with this teacher; he was always too lazy to teach anything. Perhaps a tad like Shikamaru, who took advantage of the time to stare through sleepy eyes (not that he didn't sleep enough already) at the clouds outside, then sit back as much as he could in his chair and doze off. Currently his torso was twisted slightly to the left as he gazed with lazy wistfulness out the window. Presumably jealous of how the clouds could spend their time doing whatever they pleased.

Snapping out of her thoughts, it dawned on Sakura that she wasn't really doing anything either. She turned back to talk to Ino – and got a faceful of dark, spiky hair. Sakura reeled back, gagging at the horrible sensation of hair in her mouth.

"UURRRGGGHHH….GAHHHH….WHAT THE HELL, YOU EMO CHICKEN! YOU AND YOUR STUPID HAIR GEL STINK LIKE A CAT FROM THE SEWER!" she choked.

Sasuke raised one eyebrow in that (admittedly) cool way he did. His trademark smirk completed the look.

"Well, well, Miss Huge Forehead, I must say, isn't this ironic? Your giant head must be 99% fluid, considering that you didn't even give a second thought to the fact that first you called me a chicken, then a cat. It would not be very nice if I ate myself, don't you think?"

Sakura's eye twitched once. A small vein pulsed in her temple. Quickly pushing her rising fury down, she forced a toothy smile onto her face and spoke in a syrupy sweet voice.

"For your information, _Sasuke-kun_, I did not say that you were a cat, but that you merely smelled like one. And on top of that, I don't think you really understand what I'm talking about. If I had said that you were both a chicken and a cat, it would have been eternally relieving riddance of a stubborn, ugly little chicken-cat mutant in my way." Sakura's grin screamed triumph.

And Sasuke didn't like it.

"So? I don't really care. To be frank with a big ugly forehead, there are plenty of other chicken-cat mutants I feel are my priority to terminate. Guess what? Topping that list is YOU, Haruno." He leaned back with smug satisfaction, and then added, "Congratulations, Forehead, you've finally come first in something. Consider yourself honored."

And he got up, lifted up his bag without any apparent effort and left a silently steaming Sakura jammed to her chair with her fists clenched so hard they had turned white.

As he turned to sit down beside Naruto, his eyes locked with one of the people on the other side of the room.

Sakura was standing. Her chest heaved with hate, and her jade eyes, half-hidden behind seemingly dark pink locks, tunneled ferociously into his. Despite their green hue, they burned like the gates of hell.

Her mouth opened. In the blink of an eye, Sasuke pulled out a pair of headphones and turned up the music.

Even then, he heard the terrible sound erupt. And looked away.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The entire school literally keeled over as their eardrums rippled with violent vibrations. Even Kakashi sensei looked up from his book in mild astonishment.

And as the birds scattered and the source of the shriek stormed out of the room, one thought entered his head.

This year was gonna be interesting.

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**So, what didya think? Good? Bad? Please review!!**


	2. Tricking the Senses

**Hi! Here is the second chapter. Thankyou for the reviews! **

**Enjoy!**

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"Oh, crap."

"S-Sakura-chan, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" Hinata's expression was concerned, but Sakura shrugged her worry off.

"Meh, it's just a cut. Don't look at me like that, Hinata, you know I'm fine," she added, after spotting the slight hints of doubt on her face.

"A-Alright, if you say so…"

Sakura was about to return to her experiment when a shadow suddenly loomed over her. She gulped as she turned around to face Asuma sensei, whose eyebrows knotted when he saw the long cut on her palm.

"Glass equipment broke?" he asked automatically. He reminded Sakura of a robot.

Sakura looked down at her wound and nodded.

"Well, you really should have gone to get it wrapped up. We can't have uncovered wounds in the science lab, Haruno." And with that, he dismissed her.

"I understand sensei. It won't happen again." Sakura backed out of the room and made her way toward the nurse's room.

At the nurse's room

Shizune observed Sakura's cut as she cleaned it and put a small bandage around it. As she did so, she began chatting with Sakura.

"So, how have things been lately?" Sakura's face fell.

"Not so good…"

Shizune looked at Sakura's face, confused.

"Why? I thought your life was pretty relaxed," she replied. Sakura shrugged.

"I don't know. Being relaxed and being happy are different things. Besides, you shouldn't worry over me. I will be happy soon. I just have to find Sasuke so I can leave a fist mark on his cheek."

The nurse's eyes widened.

"He's been bugging you again, hasn't he? That bothersome jerk." Sakura suspected that, being a school nurse, Shizune shouldn't really have stated her opinions so obviously, but there was no one hearing anyway.

"Yeah. Just this morning I lost to him again. So I thought that maybe if I screamed at the top of my lungs it would be the last thing he heard."

Shizune's expression was eager.

"Did it work?" Sakura shook her head slowly.

"Nope. He was donning headphones, sadly. I think I made my intentions a little too clear to his microscopic brain. Maybe next time…"

Shizune laughed softly.

"Maybe," she agreed.

Sakura stood up.

"I think I'll get back to class now. Ino will be wondering where I went." She turned to go. Shizune waved.

"See ya."

As Sakura walked slowly out of the room, she spotted a group of four making their way down the corridor. She didn't even need to try to squint, recognizing them immediately.

Sasuke was half-listening to Naruto's incessant chatter when he sensed a pair of eyes burning into his back. He stopped and waited as the rest of his friends paused to wait.

Without even bothering to turn around, he called out.

"Sakura, I know it's you. You know, you shouldn't try to hide. Anybody would be able to see your forehead sticking into the corners of their eyes; and come to think of it they would probably be blinded by its extreme unattractiveness." Still standing there, Sasuke waited for a response.

And heard nothing.

Until he felt her breath ghosting on the nape of his neck. The feeling sent tingles down his spine.

"Sasuke…" she breathed. Am I having fun or what, Sakura thought in silent smugness. She felt him shiver slightly, and went on.

"You know, the reason why I never wanted to be near you was because…you were so perfect, it would be hard to avoid staring at." The warm, foggy feeling on his neck moved slowly to the back of his ear, where it continued to whisper.

"I…really find you are a fine specimen. Which is another cause…I have longed for so long…so long…just to…" A pair of slender arms snaked around his waist.

Sasuke's mind spun in a haze. What was she going on about? She hated him, didn't she? But strangely, it felt good that she was like this; it was almost like she had given up on her hatred for him.

"I really want…to…" her voice faded away as a small hand moved from his waist to delicately trace his jawline. Sakura internally shuddered as she felt his facial muscles stretch into a smirk. Time to flatten the ego.

"…TO SLAM MY FIST INTO YOUR SNOBBY LITTLE FACE!"

And just like that, the arms disappeared from around him and something rock-hard slammed into his cheekbone. Sasuke staggered back from the powerful impact.

"*insert profanity here* YOU, HARUNO!" he bellowed sarcastically, "YOU'RE EVEN MORE OF A WHORE THAN KARIN!"

Of course, Sakura didn't mind. He was killing two birds with one stone – for her. Karin, who was trying vainly to catch his attention, heard the insult and promptly tripped her way in high-heels to the bathroom before she burst into tears.

The pink-haired girl achieved a close replicate of her enemy's smirk, and sneered,

"Oh, wow, nice work, Chicken-butt! Now you've upset your little _girlfriend_ too!"

Upon hearing this, Sasuke cringed, and shot a deathglare at Sakura.

"She's not my girlfriend," he hissed venomously, "so watch that big forehead of yours, Haruno."

Sakura huffed, and turned to leave. She'd done her job getting back at him anyway.

But before he was out of earshot she heard one last offending sentence pour out of his mouth.

"Because hopefully for you it's thick enough to withstand the sight of me in a relationship with a girl other than you."

That was the final straw.

The volcano erupted for the second time that day. Sakura was no longer Sakura. She was a monster. She advanced on the raven-haired guy and started shoving him backward fiercely, spouting an endless tirade of stinging words.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? I HAVE JUST ABOUT HAD ENOUGH OF YOU AND YOUR STUPID ATTITUDE! I TAKE BACK YOU HAVING A GIRLFRIEND OF ANY SORT; NOT EVEN KARIN WILL STICK TO YOU WHEN SHE FINDS OUT WHAT A SLIPPERY, TREACHEROUS SNAKE YOU ARE. AND WHAT I'D GIVE TO HAVE YOU DIE RIGHT NOW, SO I CAN HAPPILY RECORD THE MEMORY OF YOUR PITIFUL FACE CRYING OUT FOR MUMMY ON YOUR WAY DOWN TO HELL! AND IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE THAT'LL HAPPEN, THEN YOU'RE EVEN MORE OF AN IDIOT THAN I IMAGINED; BY NOW YOUR PRIMITIVE MENTAL SYSTEM SHOULD BE STARTING TO COMPREHEND THAT IF THE GODS DON'T PULL YOU DOWN, I WILL! YOU CAN GO SLEEP WITH ALL THE GIRLS YOU MEET, BUT ME, I'LL NEVER HOLD ANY FEELING TOWARD YOU OTHER THAN UNDYING, PASSIONATE HATRED! SO PISS YOUR STUPID ASS OFF BEFORE I TIE AN ANCHOR TO YOUR UGLY LEGS AND DROP YOU DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE MARIANA TRENCH!"

She finally stopped, her breath coming in heavy puffs. She didn't notice Sasuke gazing at her with undisguised coldness, then stalking away.

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**I hope you liked it! Sasuke is talkative, which is a bit funny, but oh well...i'll try to make the chapters longer. :)**

**_Inky_**


	3. Broken Glass

**Here is chapter 3! Enjoy!! And thankyou for the reviews! i might run out of ideas so i might ask for plot opinions later on...lols...**

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A hand landed on Sakura's shoulder. Hard. Every syllable of the harsh voice talking to her felt like a slap in the face. She almost couldn't recognize it.

Neji's pale, utterly cold and icy eyes penetrated Sakura's. His whole being seemed to be made up of bitter fury.

"You shouldn't have said that." Sakura gave an involuntary shiver. She silently scolded herself for being so easily influenced, and steeled herself, narrowing her eyes at him.

"And why not?" she retorted. The hand on her shoulder tightened to an almost painful degree, and she winced slightly.

"I see. So Sasuke was right all along. You are an ignorant little girl. Nothing but an annoying bug in his life, which you obviously haven't a clue about."

A wave of surprise rippled through Sakura. Two reasons: one, because that was just about the longest sentence she had heard him say, and two…he thought she didn't know anything about Sasuke?

"What of it? Everybody knows he's the school's biggest playboy."

"You're the idiot. He's my friend, but for all I care, you can insult him all you want…except for one thing." By now, a small crowd had gathered in the corridor, listening intently to the argument. Sakura didn't notice this until Neji's hand vanished from her shoulder, reappeared on her wrist and dragged her into the empty classroom just beside them. Sakura noticed that he locked the door.

"What the…?! And why the hell would there be a single thing I wouldn't want to insult him about, huh?" she demanded angrily. Neji looked dangerously close to wrapping his fingers around her neck as he snarled back.

"Somebody like you could never understand his suffering…"

The furious look on Sakura's face slowly faded away. The crimson in her cheeks paled until she looked nearly ghostly.

"What are you talking about?" she asked in a barely audible whisper. Neji shifted uncomfortably.

"Well…I don't think he would want for you to know, but…" He hesitated.

"But what?" Sakura persisted. Neji sighed and shook his head.

"I'm not going to tell you. If you want to know, you should see him yourself." He looked at Sakura, and in a moment she knew that his will was set in concrete; he wasn't going to betray his friend. She sighed again.

"Fine…" she muttered, as Neji unlocked the door and left. Raising her head, Sakura observed the room, and realized that she might as well stay in there, seeing that this was where her next class was.

As she pulled herself dejectedly toward a small desk in the corner, she briefly wondered what Neji was talking about. You only had to look at Sasuke to know he wasn't somebody worth trusting. Hell, he didn't even hold a single shred of respect for anybody, with the possible exception of his own companions. Maybe something happened to him…but he never talked to anybody about it in any case. Her bag hit the desk with a dull thump as she flung it in an unintentionally careless way toward it. She winced as the sound of something breaking inside reached her ears. Immediately Sakura ran the rest of the way toward it and ripped open the bag zipper.

Reaching inside, she felt around the mess of random books, old bar wrappers and stationery before her forefinger scraped across something sharp, and she drew it back hastily in reaction. Luckily, there was no blood on it, and it no longer stung; instead, a greater sense of anguish drowned it out.

Tentatively searching again, Sakura pulled out a small, shattered object.

The glass photo frame lay helplessly in her hands, no longer the beautiful heart-shape it once was. The two occupants stood inside, their smiles radiating what now seemed to be fake happiness. The then bright fire burning in their eyes had gone out…lifeless.

Sakura sat down on the ground. Biting her lip, she tried uselessly to halt the rapidly brimming fluid in her eyes by closing them. It didn't help, and they slid down her face, two of them, one for the little boy with chestnut hair and the other for the little girl donning the pink dress in the picture she now clutched to herself like a precious gem.

He was gone.

Gone.

Opening her eyes, Sakura looked up. Green met black.

Sasuke was standing in front of her, gaping in shock. For once he looked lost and uncertain of what to do. Sakura understood vaguely why. He was meant to hate her, not comfort her.

Ignoring him, she slowly uncurled herself and, still holding the photograph, started to pick up the fragments of glass in her bag. Most of them had fallen to the bottom of it but there were shards trapped in nooks and crannies. A pair of larger hands gently slid her bag away from her before she could cut herself taking them out. Sasuke's eyes burrowed into hers. And for once she didn't see anger in them. In its place were seriousness and, behind them, Sakura thought she saw, concern.

"Why do you do these things?" he asked quietly. Sakura looked away.

"I…don't know what you're talking about." She murmured.

Sasuke's frown deepened.

"You do," he said, more forcefully now, "and don't deny it. You hurt yourself, don't you? The incident in the science lab. You choosing to pick out the glass in your bag rather than taking out the items and tipping it upside down over the bin. Aren't you? I thought you were at least smart enough to be a little safer with your own actions."

Sakura's eyebrows had raised so high it seemed impossible for her to raise them higher. He thought she was smart? Instead of lingering on the odd speech, she retorted hotly,

"Is that any of your business? And no, I am not in any way trying to hurt myself. Don't tell me I did it on purpose. You just can't understand the concept of coincidence. Now will you please leave me alone?"

He glowered at her, but a moment later his expression softened a little, and he said in a consoling tone,

"Look. I don't hate you, Sakura, but please be more careful. I don't want my enemy to get hurt and not be able to verbally spar with me."

Sakura almost smiled then. She put the photo frame on her desk and looked up at him with almost warm eyes. He looked satisfied then, and started to make his way toward a desk a few rows away.

"Wait, Uchiha."

He paused.

"I don't hate you either, to be honest. I just don't like you because this side you showed me then is not dominant enough. It's draining to be around you."

He looked back at her with a quizzical smirk on his face.

"I…don't know what you're talking about." He said mockingly, and Sakura realized he had closed himself off again.

Things were almost back to normal.

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**Oh dear...I believe i just turned Sakura emo. Oh well...**

**Some Neji OOCness too .**

**Lately it has come to my attention that Sasuke seems to be the center of his friends. I should make him less important in that circle.**

**Anyway, i look forward to your reviews! Thankyou for reading!**

**_Inky_**


	4. 5 star Hotels and Videos for Blackmail

**Lots and lots of chatter makes up the main body of Chapter 4. But I'm taking this plot slowly, and if it looks to you readers like it's developing a little fast for a long story, then please know that it will slow down and the pairings will run into obstacles and such. And i'll try to add some nice cuddly stuff next chapter...note that i said i'll TRY, not guarantee. Anyway, on with the reading! Chop chop!**

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One week later

"Hey, Sakura-chan, do ya wanna come for a break with us on the weekend?"

Sakura nearly fell out of her seat. Pulling herself back up into a more dignified posture, she shot a reproachful look at the blond next to her, who was still grinning like nothing had happened at all.

"Well…it depends. Do you really want me to come? I have my expectations, you know."

Naruto's smile, if possible, broadened even more.

"Name what you want and I'll cater to it," he promptly replied. The corner of Sakura's mouth twitched.

"Are you sure? I ask for a lot." He rolled his eyes in that funny way he did, and sighed.

"Well, _shoot._"

She smirked: evilly, to be mellow.

"Okay…hmm, I want a suite in a five-star hotel with an enjoyable view of where we're staying. There should be a variety of meals to choose from, if not buffet, and of course, if I find that when we get there that my room doesn't have a nice big television, luxury furniture and Jacuzzi in the bathroom I'm going straight back home. Oh, and I'm not planning to share a room with anybody; I get my own king-sized bed with lots of soft pillows and blankets. Got that?"

Neji, Sasuke and Shikamaru simply stood there and gaped as she rattled off the series of standards she demanded. Naruto, who had just finished scribbling the list in a pocket notebook because his memory was so notoriously poor, moved his eyes back up and down the list.

He blanched.

"Uhh, S-Sakura-chan, do you really want that much? I'm not sure if I can pay for it…" He trailed off as he realized she was just joking, and made a cute, cross face. Sakura burst into laughter as she beckoned to Tenten, who had been discreetly videoing the whole conversation in the hopes of capturing something worthwhile during lunch. She now held the camera and replayed it in front of Naruto's incredulous eyes, trying to fight the giggles that were trying to push their way out.

Sakura was laughing so hard by now that she could hardly breathe.

"Naruto," she wheezed, "Oh my god, that was so priceless!"

Naruto tried to snatch the camera, but Tenten was quicker and hid it behind her back.

"Nu-uh," she said, waggling a finger at him, "this is _my_ camera, and I do whatever I want with its contents…namely blackmailing." She was _so_ enjoying this.

Until a pair of hands grasped the camera behind her and swiped it away in one fluid movement.

Tenten turned and rounded on Neji, forgetting all about Naruto.

"You popped my bubble. You're gonna pay for that." She snarled viciously, her mood completely ruined.

Neji crossed his arms, the camera strap hanging around his neck, and lazily captured her eyes.

"What bubble? I don't remember seeing any bubbles around," He challenged. Tenten scowled.

"My _mood_, you baka. I get it now._ You_ enjoy patting people's happy emotions down, so _they're _on the same level as _you_."

"Are you suggesting I am lower than you?"

"Well, what do you think?" she was getting rather tired with this.

Neji shrugged.

"Hn, maybe, maybe not," he gestured vaguely. Tenten heard a tone of finality in his voice, and decided not to respond. Neji wandered off back towards Shikamaru, who was witnessing the whole event through half-closed eyes. Hinata was sitting nearby, fidgeting nervously.

Neji and Sasuke, the cold bastards, she thought. "Hn" was a necessary part of their vocabulary. Perhaps one of _the only_ parts of their vocabulary.

Meanwhile, Naruto, who had already recovered from his general grumpiness over the camera conflict, was back up in a hyperactive mood again, and made his offer again to Sakura.

"So, are you gonna come? Hinata, Tenten and Ino are coming too, you know."

Sakura brightened up even more at the words.

"Sure!" she responded enthusiastically. His grin suddenly turned sadistic (I wonder how he did that) as he added,

"On the other hand, Neji, Shikamaru and Sasuke are also invited."

Sakura's joyful expression crashed.

"_Excuse me_?" She spluttered in outrage. Naruto shrugged and looked up at the ceiling.

"Well, you can't expect me _not_ to take my friends. I thought you would understand that, Sakura-chan."

Sakura looked away and grumbled a few incomprehensible syllables. Naruto tilted his head to the side and blinked in confusion.

"What?" he asked. She waved him off, flapping her hands at him.

"Never mind. Now shoo, before I change my mind about coming."

He scampered. Sakura sat down, yawning. The meager sunlight provided no warmth and cold winds tried to slither their way into the building. It was, unfortunately, one of the more uninteresting days. As had been the last 5 before it.

She scanned the table. Everybody else seemed to be preoccupied with something. Ino was busying herself poking Shikamaru and yelling in his ear to wake up, while Naruto chattered on in solitary mode with a speechless, crimson-faced Hinata. Tenten looked like a grouch as she sulked and brooded in front of the ever-smirking Neji. Sasuke sat eating his food quietly with a look on his face that clearly stated he thought everybody else was wasting their time.

That teme, she thought, then realized she was starting to sound like Naruto, and smacked herself on the head.

"I never thought you were the type to be emo, Forehead."

"_You're _one to talk. Just keep on stuffing your mouth with those tomatoes. Then when you can't move I'll take a picture of you and send it around the school." She grinned and then added in a melodramatic tone, "Imagine...Sasuke Uchicken…one of a kind."

He snorted derisively.

"Hn."

Sakura's eyebrows were raised as she snapped back.

"Is that _all_ you can say? I see…I probably should get you a dictionary for your next birthday, shouldn't I? It would come in _very_ handy…"

"…Right. That's weird. I don't seem to recall receiving presents of any sort from you."

Sakura smiled slyly.  
"Well, now you will."

And then the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Sakura slung her bag over her shoulder and pushed her chair in as she stood.

"Goodbye, Uchicken," she finished with a waggle of her fingers.

Sasuke stared after the retreating figure for a moment, then with a sigh shook his head and left the table too.

On the weekend

"Sakura, have you got all your stuff packed?" the familiar voice of her mother rang down from upstairs as the pink-haired teenager shoved her luggage into the back of Naruto's car.

"Yeah, mum, _I double-checked_, okay?"

Actually, she hadn't bothered to double-check…but what you don't know can't hurt you.

"Bye mum…" she yelled finally and hopped in, slamming the door after her.

"Geez, Sakura-chan, you don't need to be so brutal. This car is expensive, you know," Naruto scolded from the driver's seat.

Sakura, now slightly pissed off, made a face at the back of the seat. She heard Temari snort with laughter, and changed her point of focus to the blonde.

"Wow, Tem, I didn't know you snort when you laugh," she commented. Temari said nothing, but stuck her tongue out at back of the pinkette's head.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, chose that moment to pipe up.  
"I rather think it's pretty cute," he muttered. The rest of the occupants of the car gawped at him as he slouched in the car like he hadn't said anything.

Ino huffed.

"I never hear you say those words to your own family friend."

Shikamaru opened one eye and looked lazily at the platinum blonde who was viciously glaring back at him.

"Are you jealous, Ino? Or are you just another troublesome woman who happens to like my charming compliments?"

Ino snapped.

Reaching forward in a flash, she wrapped her fingers tight around his ponytail and pulled out a pair of scissors, snapping them open and pushing them up against his hair.

"Say that again?" she hissed vehemently. Shikamaru, who worried about his appearance much more than he cared to admit, groaned back.

"God, fine, you don't need the compliment because you know it all too well already, alright?"

She pulled his hair harder.

"Ow, ow, ow, geez, stop it!" he slapped at her hands, "you're so stunning you look better than Aphrodite!"

She finally smiled foxily and let him go.

"That's much better," she said, and eyed Temari with a look of utter victory. Temari, however, was a tough nut to crack, and they spent the next ten minutes silently battling each other in their staring contest while Sakura fought the pale green tinge that was gradually creeping onto her face.

Even the trip to the airport was taking _ages_. She wondered how long it would be until they actually _started_ the holiday.

The good stuff just never happens fast enough.

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**Whoop! That was longer than i expected. Anyway, R & R and i'll probably update sooner. Any advice? Recommendations? Please let me know how to improve this so you guys can enjoy it more.**

**Until next time,**

**_Inky_**

**(P.S. I liked saying "Until next time". Maybe i'll do it every chapter. :D hehehe...)**


	5. The Bathroom Discovery

**My apologies for the delay. Here is the 5th chapter you have all been waiting for. This story sure is moving slow. I feel almost pained at the fact that they are going to Hawaii for one friggin weekend. Anyway, thankyou Someday Known for helping me with info on their holiday location. A round of applause please! This chapter would not be here without Someday Known...so i hereby award you with a medal for...um...umm...nevermind. In any case, i shall now shut up and allow you to continue reading!**

* * *

"PUAAAAAAARGGGGHHHHHH…."

"Aw, man, that's gross…why now of all times does Sakura-chan have to puke?!" Naruto groaned as he waited outside.

"I'd rather listen to the sounds coming from the bathroom than to your whining, dobe."

Naruto shut up and sat in a corner behind a pot plant to sulk.

The situation was bad. Ever since they had landed, the pinkette had been repeatedly running off to the widely distributed bathrooms in the airport. This was the fourth time they had been forced to stop so that when she came back from the bathroom she wouldn't get lost trying to find them. At this rate, by the time she was done they would be boarding the plane back.

Sasuke made a small, irritated noise as Sakura emerged from the ladies' bathroom, looking shaky and pale.

"Are you done yet? I wanna feel the fresh air now, troublesome woman." Shikamaru drawled.

"Hn."

"YEAH! BELIEVE IT!"

Sakura, despite being unwell, shot a glare at all of them.

"You _are_ feeling it, you airheads," she countered, pointing a finger at the open window. Shikamaru yawned in exasperation.

"That's air? But it's so dense!"

"Yes, it is air," she huffed, "now let's go, before we waste any more time here."

At the hotel

"Naruto?! I didn't mean it when I asked for all those things!"

Naruto blushed and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Well, I sorta forgot, Sakura-chan…WHY ON EARTH DID YOU MAKE ME SPEND ALL THAT MONEY?!" He burst into tears. Sakura blinked at the sudden outburst and reached forward to pat his shoulder before he started having a tantrum.

"Look, I'll treat you to one month's worth of ramen if you don't start screaming, okay?"

He suddenly perked up at the word ramen.

"You will?" he asked in excitement. "You really will?"

"…No. Maybe. Yes. Fine. Geez."

Naruto grinned and jumped up and down on the spot like a faulty spring.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!" He hollered ecstatically.

"SHUSH!" Sakura hissed at him as she nervously looked around at the rest of the staring people. Grabbing his shoulders, she said with a frown,

"You know what, Naruto…why couldn't we have waited until the holidays? I mean, it's only a weekend and stuff, so why bother flying here and back? We're grateful that you footed the bill for all this, but now? It's not exactly the best of times."

Naruto blinked.

"Oh," was all he said. Sakura felt like sweatdropping like an anime character.

"I do believe that after this you're gonna go bankrupt." She commented blandly. Naruto's face was horrified for a moment, before it returned back to its normal happy state as he asked rather dumbly,

"What's bankrupt?"

Sakura really did sweatdrop this time as she pounded his head.

"Oww, Sakura-chan! What was that for?"

"When you're bankrupt you've run out of money to spend, Naruto."

"I'll run out of money? Noooo…….." Naruto sank to his knees in despair. Sakura rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"…Forget it. I'm not gonna talk to you anymore." And with that she deserted him and strolled into the bathroom for a hot bath. Closing the door behind her, she pressed her ear to it and after a few seconds sighed in relief as she heard him leaving.

Looking at the bathroom was an understatement. Ogling at the bathroom was a bit more like it. If Sakura were Tenten she'd be comparing its impressive features to Neji's. Sakura giggled lightly at the thought as she filled the bathtub with bubbles and warm water and sank gratefully into it.

As she lay there, relishing the small period of peace and quiet, random thoughts started to float into her mind.

In truth, she didn't really dislike any of the boys. Come to think of it, they probably were just extremely immature, however well they hid it. The Hyuuga, certainly, was so outwardly stubborn and stoic that it was hardly any surprise that he and the equally expressionless Uchiha's personalities clashed.

To the pinkette's shock, the bathroom door started to ease open. Damn, she thought. I've forgotten to lock the door…

In the next moment a small, dark-haired head popped around the door and grinned at her.

"Hey Sakura!" Tenten cried as she stood in a thick bathrobe and fluffy slippers. A towel was wrapped around her hair. Sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, she cheerfully brushed aside Sakura's mortified face and started to chat in high-speed mode.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your bath but I took mine already so I got bored and decided to pay you a visit! I feel so envious of your room; it's so much bigger and prettier than mine! Can I stay? Can I stay? Can I stay?" she leaped forward impulsively and grabbed Sakura's shoulders, shaking her violently.

Sakura, who was still blushing furiously, gulped.

"Oh my god, alright! Tenten, what have you been eating? You're unusually high today."

Tenten nodded vigorously.

"Just a party packet of gummy lollies and five chocolate bars!" She cried joyfully. Sakura stared at her happy face, slightly creeped out by now.

"You ate a party packet of gummy lollies and FIVE chocolate bars." She repeated incredulously.

"Yep! I offered some to Neji-kun too but he refused and looked at me like I was an idiot…" she wilted at the last words.

Sakura's eyes, however, now held a calculating light in them.

"You gave some to him?"

"Uh huh…what of it?"

Sakura smiled.

"Just him?" she pressed. Tenten shrank back slightly and turned a shade of pink that gave Sakura's hair a run for her money.

"O-Okay, now, Sakura, I-I-I know where you're heading…" she stammered nervously. Sakura seemed to grow bigger and more proud of her discovery as she sat up and advanced on her friend with an utterly sadistic grin.

"YOU LIKE HIM! HAHAHA…YOU LIKE NEJI HYUUGA!" she sang loudly. Tenten began shrieking in hysterical terror and slapped her palm over the pink-haired girl's mouth.

"NOOO, I DON'T! SHUT UP!" she begged, her frightened eyes like a bug's in Sakura's face. Sakura shook her head slowly in mock disapproval before she firmly pushed away Tenten's stiff hand and started to yell again.

"OH, I'M SO EVIL BECAUSE I JUST DISCOVERED THAT TENTEN LOVES NEJI! TENTEN AND NEJI, TENTEN AND NEJI, TENTEN AND NEJI!!! HAHAHA!"

By now the brunette was on her knees in a desperate attempt to quieten Sakura down.

"Please, stop…STOP IT!" she sobbed in anguish. Before Sakura could newsflash her discovery again, the door burst open once more as (strangely) Neji rushed into the bathroom. He was shortly followed by Sasuke. The Hyuuga only had eyes for Tenten as he stood before her and, being the gentleman he was, offered a hand to help her up.

"Are you alright?" he asked in an almost ridiculously refined voice, before he and Sasuke noticed the girl in the bathtub.

Their eyes bulged at the sight of her form.

Neji bolted with Tenten in his arms.

That left Sasuke with a pink-head who was hurriedly trying to cover herself up with the remaining bubbles in the bathtub.

Sasuke's POV (sort of)

Sasuke cursed. What had he gotten himself into? God, he was dumb to run in after the Hyuuga when there was hardly anything to worry about in the first place. And now he was stuck in the bathroom of his currently naked enemy and trying not to check her out.

It failed.

She turned even redder than her hair as he unintentionally took in the sight of her already flushed face and her small body. It was a second or two before he realized that something warm trickling down to his mouth from his nose was the source of concern on her face.

"Sorry," she spoke finally as Sasuke clamped his hand to his nose, "but I don't have something to absorb the blood here. You'd better go back to your room anyway…"

He left without a word, a faint blush visible on his face. As soon as he left, Sakura stepped out of the now lukewarm water, dried herself and pulled a cream-coloured robe around her before somebody else intruded.

Throwing herself onto her huge bed, she flipped on the plasma screen and watched old movies for the rest of the night.

The moment in the bathroom, however, lingered with her into the next morning.

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**The ending was a bit rushed, but oh well. If you review i'll give you a free cookie! :D**

**Until next time,**

**_Inky_**


	6. Toothbrushes, Toothpaste and Hotel Doors

**Apologies about the slower update, but it will get worse as the yearly exams come up for me. But who cares about that at the moment...presenting chapter 6! ^^ Again, loads of random chatter about random things and a little tiny bit of fluff at the end, but that's it. Meh, who cares, I'm a busy person...**

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The next morning

At precisely 7:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the alarm clock started its daily routine of screeching.

From a certain suite in an expensive hotel situated near the coast in Honolulu, Hawaii, a pink-haired figure let out a loud yawn.

Sakura Haruno sluggishly turned in her huge king-sized bed, jade eyes fluttering open. Tugging her arms out from under the soft, poofy blanket, she stretched widely, enjoying the feeling of her shoulder muscles pulling gently.

All was well.

Until she realized her clock was still going. Blinking lazily she bunched up a fist and slammed the snooze button, and dozed off again.

It started beeping again after ten minutes. Its owner groaned and seized the annoying little thing, flipping it face down and ripping out the battery.

Sakura huffed, now pissed at not much in particular, and blew a strand of straight pink hair out of her face before dragging herself to the bathroom to get ready for breakfast. Sighing in bliss at the sight of the perfect room, she looked around for her toothbrush and toothpaste, before slapping her head for leaving them both at home.

The pyjama-clad figure, still half-asleep, unlocked the door and trudged along the carpeted floor outside before banging on the door immediately next to her own. There was a brief pause, before Ino's voice bellowed,

"Shut the hell up, retard! There are people trying to sleep! Go find someone else to bug…"

Meh. Typical Ino, even when she had no idea who was knocking. Sakura wasted no more time in moving on to the next door.

No response. Pineapple-head was still snoozing away happily, no doubt.

Temari was the first to bother coming to the door.

"Eh?" she grunted, squinting at her friend. Sakura mock-squinted back.

"Do you have your toothbrush? Can I use it?" She spelt out, so that Temari's starting-up-in-the-morning mind could register.

She leaned against the door in a carefree manner.

"Sorry, dude. I lost mine with the rest of my toiletries somewhere. Why don't you go use the ones the hotel people provide?"

After a surprised "Oh," at her own stupidity, Sakura apologized to the blonde and moved on to the next door. Not gonna bother going back to use the hotel ones.

To her surprise, Hinata opened the door of Naruto's hotel room. Upon seeing Sakura's stunned face, she flushed furiously.

"U-Uh, S-Sakura-san, I-I-I can explain," she stuttered in utter embarrassment. Sakura grinned and tackled Hinata's rigid body.

"Haha, Hinata, you finally got together with Naruto! You're so devious sometimes, you know!" she said to Hinata.

At that moment, Naruto emerged in orange pyjamas and a sleeping cap. It was a comical sight, and, of course, topped off with the frighteningly-sized bowl of steaming instant ramen clutched in his hands.

Sakura ignored this and slapped his shoulder in what she hoped was a masculine manner.

"So, what did you guys do last night?" she sticky-beaked.

Naruto's eyebrows clearly stated his inability to understand to her.

"Huh? We didn't do anything. Hinata just came over this morning 'cause she was hungry and wanted a snack. So I made some ramen for her! Hey, that reminds me, did you know she likes beef-flavoured?" he said, grabbing Hinata excitedly, "It's my favourite flavor too! What's yours, Sakura?"

Sakura stood there for a second, letting his random words sink in, and then slowly backed away.

"…Never mind I came here. You guys just go and enjoy your beef ramen. I'll see you later, then."

The next door was empty, Hinata having gone over to Naruto's room. The occupants in the two rooms following did not reply at all…except for a groan from Tenten's and a solid object hitting the other side of the door of Neji's (that was even more unpleasant than Ino's response…).

Well, Sakura thought despondently, that leaves one room. Raising her first in dread, she rapped her knuckles against the door.

Shortly after the sound of footsteps faded in and the door opened slightly, just enough so that Sakura could be glared at with a pair of onyx eyes.

"What do you want?" Sasuke mumbled grouchily. Sakura fought the oncoming snigger at his messy hair.

"Can I borrow your toothbrush and toothpaste?" she asked. His face contorted into a weird what-the-hell expression.

"Of course not," he said, and tried to close the door. Sakura stuck her foot in between, and winced as it got sandwiched in between the door and the frame.

"Oh, come on, Uchiha. I didn't come over all the way for nothing. Please?" She said, covering up the pain in a sweet voice. He smirked.

"And why didn't you use the ones they provided then?" he questioned in a smug manner. Sakura felt like slapping him.

"Because I didn't want to, smartass," she snapped in frustration. His smirk only widened.

"Oh, so you'd rather use _my_ toothbrush than the ones in your bathroom?"

"N-no…I just couldn't be bothered to go back when I realized they had them."

He didn't say anything for a moment, as if contemplating over a decision. Then he stepped to the side and pulled the door open wider to let her in.

"Do what you must…" he said reluctantly, as Sakura walked past him. As she did, her nose picked up the faintest of scents. Sort of…warm and rich in an exotic way…it was nice. Did Sasuke really smell like that? She almost thought before hastily pushing the idea away and dismissing it as the smell of the room itself.

Shaking the last scraps of haziness out her mind, Sakura ignored the fading scent and closed the bathroom door behind her in an attempt to put a barrier between Sasuke and herself.

The toothbrush and toothpaste sitting beside the shiny white sink looked perfectly normal. Now that she approached it, Sakura couldn't help but feel like she should have gone back and used the hotel toiletries.

Under normal circumstances, she would have happily grabbed it. The only thing was, this was the Uchiha's toothbrush, and she was NOT about to use it.

What the hell was she gonna do? Sakura sat down on the edge of the bathtub and started banging herself on the head, trying to knock out an idea.

It worked. Of course! She could use the hotel ones in _his_ room. Sakura silently congratulated her brain for finally fixing her dilemma before snatching and tearing open the bag with the toiletries. Diving in she quickly dug up a small tube and a toothbrush, and hurriedly brushed her teeth.

"I thought you said you were going to use my one." A voice interrupted from behind her. Sakura spun around, green eyes wide with shock as her hand let go of the toothbrush dangling from her mouth.

"Uchiha! Why are you in here?" she demanded in a tooth-brushy tone. He shrugged.

"What? I can't go into my own bathroom? Your thinking is so incomprehensible, Haruno."

Sakura sweatdropped.

"Ah, I shee…too incomprehenshible for your brain. That'sh shtrange, becaushe other _normal_ people tend to find my logic perfectly undershtandable."

"…Whatever," he muttered. A thick, unpleasant silence unfolded between the two figures standing face to face. Then, seemingly on impulsive action, the raven-haired teenager strode forward, in two steps closing the distance between them and stopped.

Reaching a hand forward, he tenderly wiped the toothpaste-foam from around her lips with his thumb.

"That looks more presentable." He concluded after he washed the toothpaste off his finger, and strolled back into his bedroom as if she never visited in the first place.

Sakura stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open in surprise. Shunning the memory of his fingers brushing against her lips, she hurriedly went back to getting herself ready.

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**As usual, please review! Thankyou for waiting patiently for the next chapter. Remember, constructive criticism is encouraged!**

**Until next time,**

**_Inky_**


	7. Sakura's Hidden Love for Water Fights

**Sorry to keep you waiting...Chapter 7 is here!**

**Thanks to:**

**Someday Known-one of my fav reviewers! heehee...**

**Twisted Musalih-a regular reviewer...glad you're enjoying the story so far!**

**There are heaps more people but if i didn't put you on my (very short) list then please don't be offended because i have terrible memory and i cannot recall all the names because as i am writing this i know that if i divert away from this page i will lose all that i have just typed and i'm not bothered to do it again so yeah. haha ranting is fun...**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

All that could be said of the beach after eating breakfast was that it was a nice place to be. Immediately after breakfast, they had changed into their swimwear with their normal clothes on top, and headed towards the beach, where Sakura and her friends showed off their costumes to each other.

Relaxing back onto the bright red towel, Sakura pulled the umbrella down so that just the right amount of light seeped in and flipped open a magazine.

From a distance, the wind carried the sound of squealing and laughing over. At least her friends were occupied with playing around in the water with the boys.

Shaking her head, the pink-haired girl reverted her attention to the pages of articles in her hands. Strangely, though, the sunlight seemed to have disappeared, and she found out why as a surfboard smacked into her forehead.

"ARGH! Get off me, freak!"

"I never was on you in the first place…" a deep voice pointed out, then added, almost as an afterthought, "unless you wanted me to be."

Sakura threw the magazine aside.

"No, thankyou, emo-chicken," she squeezed through clenched teeth, before she nearly turned into a puddle at the image staring intensely back at her.

Alternatively, this whole experience might be better if he _was_ on her. The dark blue swimming trunks were not what she was gawking at. Rather, it was the abdomen. If he wasn't Sasuke Uchiha she would be positively drooling, if not already.

"Sorry, Uchiha, you ain't gonna catch my attention with just a set of nice abs," she drawled in a low voice, eyebrows raised as she embarked on an impromptu staring contest.

In the end, he won. Unfortunately.

"Your girlfriends want you over there. They say they need you, since we're flattening them," he stated smugly as he broke into a run towards the water fight.

That got Sakura up. She leapt to her feet, passionate fire burning in her eyes before she thundered away to rile up Tenten, Ino, Temari and Hinata.

xXxXxXx

Meanwhile, the girls were being steadily driven back in the water battle they had so energetically bullied the boys into.

Of course, now they were rather frustrated. They were indeed a worthy match; despite being outnumbered, Shikamaru and his genius brain was like the king; so long as the boys listened to him, the girls were dead meat. The strain of trying to hold them back was even getting to Temari; all of them could see how hard she was trying to beat up Shikamaru. Which wasn't easy, seeing as water didn't exactly seem to like her.

"Ahh! Stop spraying my eyes, lazy-ass! Don't you know that's a technique for chickens?!" Ino cried indignantly. Sasuke, upon hearing the word 'chicken' stiffened on the spot, earning him a good splash in the face from an anonymous opponent. Tenten, Hinata, Ino and Temari all froze as they turned to the currently today-I-shall-be-as-youthful-as-Lee pinkette. Flicking a whistle (now, where did she get that from? Odd…) up to her lips, she proceeded to empty all the air in her lungs into it. Everybody cringed as the high-pitched sound rang in their heads.

Pulling her friends away, Sakura turned to them with flaming eyes as they huddled in a circle thigh-deep in the shallows.

"What the hell is up with you guys today? Are you seriously going to desert your womanly pride on a fricken holiday trip?" she hissed furiously at them. Temari was the first to catch the Sakura-passion syndrome.

"Of course not!" she cheered immediately, and Sakura turned to the rest with a demanding look.

"Oh yeah!" Ino cried, suddenly hit by a mood swing.

"Yay! Neji will have to buy me a truckload of chocolate after we win, because I betted with him and because he's _so_ filthy RICH!" Tenten grinned at the thought of her favourite food.

"I-I have to show N-Naruto-kun what I'm made of…then he might notice me more…" Hinata stuttered softly, but optimistically.

Sakura nodded in approval at their determination.

"So," she said, "does this mean we're ready now?"

"Mhmm!" they agreed, now bent on beating the opposite team to a pulp.

And with that, they resumed the game.

In the following minutes the girls burned with ferocious intent. Sakura, easily the most insistent on winning, went completely wild and literally emptied the half-meter radius of water around her shoveling it and flinging it in the direction of everybody not allied with her. Temari and Ino put together their efforts and became 'Team Blonde', completely drowning Shikamaru under a torrent of water fuelled by the need for revenge. Tenten looked like she had gone high on sugar again that morning, shrieking hysterically at a slightly creeped-out Neji that he owed her one chocolate bar for every time she managed to drench him, while the lavender-eyed team mascot slyly lured a completely clueless Naruto into letting her dump water on top of him by threatening to give away the location of his private store of ramen to his father, who equally adored the noodles and was always buying more of it.

By nearly the end of the game, Sasuke was glaring daggers at Sakura again.

_Guess he's a bad loser, then,_ she thought in the back of her head as she shot him again with a surprisingly accurate jet of water.

"Hold on…what's the score…oh, I see…hold on, THIS IS THE LAST ONE NEEDED! YAY, WE WON!!!" she practically screamed. Ino and Tenten, with broad grins on their faces, splashed their way over and promptly glomped Sakura in glee. Temari was cheerfully ignoring a floating Shikamaru, choosing not to hear his mumbles that she had better pull him up before some rip developed and dragged him off. As if that would happen anyway. But Hinata's expression was the best of all.

"She was positively _glowing_," Naruto moaned later that afternoon as he tearfully handed over his hidden stash of instant ramen to a happily eating Hinata.

"Tell me about it," his pineapple-haired friend grumbled, and returned his (very meager) attention back to the fluffy clouds in the clear blue sky.

"Looks like it's gonna rain soon," he complained, before his small amount of remaining energy abruptly disappeared and he drifted into his dream world of deer, clouds, grass and two certain blonde individuals he would rather not think about at the moment. Watching Shikamaru drowsily, Naruto dissed him with a wave of his hand; to nobody in particular, but he didn't really care about that.

"Psh…" he muttered, and returned to his own bowel of ramen.

"Do you idolize me so much that you have to start behaving like me too, dobe?" Sasuke asked him. Naruto scowled at him, the are-you-serious sort of look.

"Nah, no need to copy the actions of the ego-god," he muttered, loud enough for everybody else to hear. Sakura smiled faintly at him, too exhausted to pull a full one off.

"For once I second that, Naruto…" she said.

"HEY! What do you mean?"

"I mean that usually the things you say are things I can't exactly agree with," she explained. Naruto shook his head rapidly.

"No no no, I meant the second thingy. What did you mean?"

They all sweatdropped.

"Dumbass," Neji commented.

"Baka," Temari drawled.

"Air-head," Ino piped up.

"We get it…" Sakura shushed them, and, once again, explained to him.

"When I second something, I support it."

She sighed with relief as understanding dawned on his face.

"Ohh…I get it now!" he beamed. Sakura sweatdropped even further.

"O-Okay…"

Tenten, who had, once again, become hyperactive on her (mostly junk-consisted) lunch, unexpectedly hopped up and started running around their little spot on the beach, proclaiming to the world about how much she loved chocolate and that she would die without it. Sasuke smirked at the sight.

"Jealous, much?" he asked Neji.

Neji growled at him.

"Hell no, Uchiha."

Hinata sighed. Perhaps going to sleep like Shikamaru wasn't such a bad idea.

And with that, she stretched out her towel properly, pulled the umbrella down so she wouldn't get sunburnt and fell asleep to the sound of arguing teenagers, seagulls and the tides washing at the shore.

* * *

**Hmm...i haven't really done any cliffies yet...but they will come, rest assured. School has once again started and i can guarantee that i will die at some stage during my yearly exams so wish me luck...with any of that i might get off easy and end up in a coma instead, which means that if i remember who i am when i wake up and my entire life then i should be capable of coming back to fanfiction, remembering my password and finishing this incredibly slow-moving story! anyway no more random chit-chat, i gotta go cuz it's late at my place.**

**Until next time,**

**_Inky_**


	8. The Violent, UmbrellaWielding Hag

***hides behind laptop* don't kill meeeeeeeeee.......**

**I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....................................................**

***cries* This will be the last time i update in a while, because my yearly exams are coming up and i'm revising like a madwoman.**

**So please bear with me...**

* * *

"I would rather endure Tenten with chocolate than wear _that_, Ino-pig."

The blond pouted.

"Aww, come on, Sak, you're ruining the fun!" she whined. Her friend shook her head decisively.

"You might wear it, Ino, because your profession is hooking up with random boys from school but there is no way I'm gonna be seen in that scrap of transparent fabric."

Ino held it up to herself and frowned, trying to see Sakura's point.

"Well, it looks fine to me. I don't see anything wrong with something a little revealing…"

"A LITTLE revealing? Are you kidding me? That _thing_ is the equivalent of not wearing anything at ALL! Which completely defeats the purpose of shopping, just so you know. We are here to shop for clothes that are noticeable on us, not nonexistent!" Sakura burst out in frustration. Through the duration of the past half hour in this shop all that Ino had done was wander around the lingerie section, dragging her pink-haired best friend behind her. In general Sakura didn't mind shopping for lingerie; it was the fact that Ino looked like she was openly searching for a potential competitor to break the world record for the most revealing piece of clothing or something.

Sakura had had enough.

"Alright, bombshell, we're outta here. No more skimpy underwear!" she decided firmly and, grabbing Ino's wrist, pulled her out of the shop without buying anything, much to the barely hidden dismay of the woman at the register.

It wasn't long, though, before the pinkette let out a shriek of ecstasy at a display window owned by a store right next door to the one they had just left. Ino watched with a half-stunned face, witnessing Sakura break into one of those cliché, slow-motion runs towards it as if she were in love – which, in a way, she had. _Geez,_ the blonde thought, _and I thought I was obsessed with shopping…_

xXxXxXx

It was a pleasantly cool evening. The girls still hadn't arrived back at the hotel yet, and despite vehemently denying it mentally, Sasuke was getting worried. Getting up, he wandered over to a certain door. Banging loudly on it, he waited impatiently for it to open.

"Hey," he said, not really caring who it was standing in the doorway. In fact, he didn't even look at them until he realized he was staring into the wall inside the room.

Lowering his gaze, he caught sight of a tiny, withered old woman standing in a nightgown there, wrinkled eyes narrowed to slits as she glowered at him.

"What are you doing here, you uncivilized youth!" she snapped in a quivering voice, watery eyes filled with disapproval at the sight of him. When he simply stood there, towering over her in rebellion, she huffed and grabbed an umbrella from the stand in the corner. Sasuke had no idea what she was doing.

Until she tightened both skeletal fingers around it and slammed it into his place-where-the-sun-don't-shine.

"Get out of my doorway, you unsightly beast!" the deranged woman cackled, landing blows on the teenager's back and head as he doubled over in agony.

"Gah…" he managed to gasp out, before stumbling away from her next blow and fleeing back to the security of his room.

Oh, the shame of it…

xXxXxXx

"Oh, god, look at the time!" Temari exclaimed in an abnormally high voice, earning a nervous glance from her indigo-haired bestie. The mushed-up contents of Ino's fruit salad was fully visible as her mouth opened in a gigantic yawn.

"I wanna go baaaaaaaccccccccckkkkkkkkkkk………" she whined. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Hell, I'm tired. Time to hit the road, girls," she declared, and led the way out to catch the taxi back to the hotel.

xXxXxXx

"Oh…it's you people," Shikamaru said in a somewhat disgruntled tone. Temari crossed her arms and stared hard at him.

"Not pleased to see us, huh? I wonder what you would think if we had gotten kidnapped or something," she replied back slyly. The pineapple yawned and muttered a "troublesome" before slouching away. Ino shook her head sadly at her fellow blonde.

"Boys. What can you do about their attitudes?" she said in a frank voice, and pulled them away to her room (which was by now, just to let you know, completely turned feminine).

"Haha, Ino…what are we doing here, by the way?"

Ino's expression was one of pure evil.

"I will make you girls _hot_," she said smugly. Sakura just stared at her.

"We're about to go to bed, Ino. Leave it till tomorrow, dude, and get some beauty sleep. We'll all be easier to work with in the morning if you let us go now." Her friend pouted.

"Yeah, right…you just want me to leave you alone, pinkhead," she muttered, but nevertheless allowed them to head toward their rooms.

As Hinata made her way toward her room, she started thinking about her friends, and an evil thought occurred to mind. Surely Tenten didn't fancy her own cousin? Even she found herself unable to view him as a relative.

Fwump.

Crash.

Hinata's head spun as she tried to look up and met a pair of eyes creepily akin to her own.

Well, speak of the devil.

"What are you doing wandering around at this time?" Neji demanded, hands on hips. It was, strangely, not a comical sight. Hinata suddenly experienced a wave of defiance, and copied his stance.

"Ditto," she shot back cooly, and inwardly smirked with satisfaction as she saw her cousin's face turn from dominating to very much disturbed.

"Your father says you have to go to bed early," he grumbled under his breath, turning his head away. Hinata rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, and I'm a three-year-old toddler. He really doesn't keep track of time, does he?" she hissed, and stalked away.

Stupid stalker. Hinata mentally took her comments on Tenten's romantic interest in him back. There was no way in hell she could hold any form of interest towards _him._

No way in hell…right?

* * *

**Okay, shorter than my average story by about 100 words, but that's all i can manage for tonight. in fact, i'm already pushing it. You'll have to wait another 2-3 weeks at least until the next update. I can't help it. I hope you found that alright.**

**Until next time,**

_**Inky**_


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